BENGALURU: The Bengaluru zonal unit of Enforcement Directorate (ED), probing the Mysore Urban Development Authority (Muda) land allotment scam, involving Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and his family, has uncovered illicit assets tied to several realty tycoons.
According to an ED press release, the agency has provisionally attached 142 immovable properties valued at approximately Rs 300 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The attached properties are registered in the names of various real estate businessmen and agents.
However, ED sources clarified these properties had no connection with either the CM or his family.
The ED investigation originates from an FIR filed by Lokayukta Police, Mysuru, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, which named Siddaramaiah and others.
ED officials revealed that searches during the probe unearthed widespread irregularities in Muda’s compensation matrix. In addition to the plots allotted to Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathi, numerous other plots were allegedly given to realtors, who sold them at inflated prices, generating substantial amount of black money.
“This cash was laundered and portrayed as legitimate income,” an ED official said.
The probe further revealed that sites were allocated to benami or proxy individuals tied to powerful figures and real estate dealers. The investigation also found incriminating documents, linking illegal gratifications, including Muda sites, cash payments, and immovable properties to the then Muda chairman and commissioner.
ED findings also indicate that funds from illicit sources were funnelled through a cooperative society to acquire properties, luxury cars, and other assets in the names of relatives of G T Dinesh Kumar, a former Muda commissioner. Kumar, who was appointed registrar (administration) of Haveri University, has been suspended, pending a departmental inquiry.
Kumar faces allegations of illegally allocating sites and introducing the contentious 50:50 land allocation scheme without approval from the Muda board. This very controversial scheme made Parvathi eligible for 14 sites in exchange for a three-acre plot.
